Major new research centre at the University of Manchester on the southern fringes of the city centre.

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Business Desk Morth West.

Sir Henry Royce Institute

The Government is to invest £229m in the development of advanced materials and a new centre of excellence for the life and physical sciences as part of its modern Industrial Strategy.

Included in the investment is £126m in grants for the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, supporting the creation of a world-leading research centre at the University of Manchester, with satellite centres at the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College.

Set to open in 2019, the £150m Royce Institute will encompass nine key areas of materials research including graphene and proposed research areas will be grouped into four themes - energy, engineering, functional and soft materials.

Located at the heart of the University of Manchester's Engineering Campus, the 16,000 sq m building will house world-leading materials scientists, equipment and collaborative space for industrial and academic engagement.

It is believed that, at 46 metres high, the Royce building will be the tallest on the University of Manchester campus.

It will be located next to the Alan Turing Building on Upper Brook Street, in close proximity to the Schools of Physics and Chemistry, as well as the £61m National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the £350m Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD), which is currently under construction.

The government also announced a £103m investment in a new national centre of excellence for life and physical sciences at the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said: “Research and development has a proven track record of making our economy more competitive and creating new products, services and better ways of doing business. For these reasons, we’ve placed the UK’s strengths in science, research and innovation at the core of our modern Industrial Strategy."

Finally it looks as though demolition has started on site at Landmark. Last week an app went in for demolition of this building with the condition that the building must start construction once demolition was complete.

And finally for today, pics of trams on the new city centre crossing route that opened last weekend. Work on finishing off the landscaping in St Peters Square is still ongoing.

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Originally Posted by VDB

It doesn't snow often in Manchester anymore, so these pictures by frenchiejnr are a novel rarity!

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Originally Posted by Slow Burn

Today

The new tram route opening coincides with an expansion of early morning services.

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Originally Posted by VDB

Metrolink Early Bird

The new line through the city centre also means Metrolink have started running trams much earlier in the morning between the City Zone and South Manchester.

The F line will also now start running at 3.19am every 20 minutes until 6am (when the regular F takes over every 10 minutes) in order to serve late night clubbers and early morning flights from Manchester Airport.

Oh, one more small one on the subject of the airport. Manchester airport has recently hit 25m annual passengers and moved into the European top 20 airports for the first time, with a few new international routes planned to commence later this year. Chinese investment to significantly increase the capacity of the airport and improve existing terminals has been secured in the last year.

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Originally Posted by WingTips

MAN now moves into Europe's top 20....

Record January puts Manchester Airport in Europe’s top 20

"Manchester Airport is now ranked among Europe’s top 20 airports in terms of passenger numbers after achieving its busiest January on record.
Last month saw 1,665,943 people set off for the airport’s 210 destinations as North West holidaymakers opted to ditch the cold in favour of warmer climes.
The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 11.3% and brings Manchester Airport’s rolling annual passenger total to 25,864,24 .
As a result, Manchester has now replaced Stockholm Airport in the list of Europe’s 20 busiest, ahead of airports in Lisbon, Helsinki, Athens, Vienna, Brussels and other capitals.
Manchester experienced particularly strong growth in long-haul traffic, with overall numbers up 13% during the last 12 months.
Discussing January’s passenger figures, which mark the airport’s 34th consecutive month of growth, CEO Ken O’Toole said: “To enter the top 20 airports of Europe is a significant milestone and sees us rub shoulders with the leading gateways on the continent, in terms of total passenger numbers, the mix of destinations available and the aircraft operating on those routes.
"It is pleasing that growth has been delivered across the board, with all categories of carriers continuing to recognise the strength of our catchment area, which stretches from North Wales in the west to Humberside in the east and up to the Scottish Borders.“
He continued: "A growing number of international visitors are also looking to Manchester Airport as their gateway not just to the North but the UK as a whole.
“As 2017 continues we aim to bring on more long haul routes, in order to plug the 22m people in our catchment area to key global destinations, either to unlock investment and economic opportunities for businesses, or for far flung family holidays for leisure passengers.“
In January, aircraft movements were up by 17.4% with nearly 14k planes taking off and landing on the airport’s two runways.
Cargo, meanwhile, rose year on year by 10% with 8,133 tonnes carried".

"From June 2017, Cathay Pacific are adding another weekly flight to their schedule from Manchester. There will now be 5 flights a week from Manchester to Hong Kong".

This service operated using new A350.

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Originally Posted by WingTips

More TCX from MAN

"Thomas Cook adds Cayo Santa Maria to Cuba programme..."

"Thomas Cook has launched a new long-haul resort in Cuba to its portfolio after strong demand for the country.
Holidays to Cayo Santa Maria will start next year, with flights beginning on May 5 2018.

Adding to Varadero, Holguin and Cayo Coco, the announcement means Thomas Cook is the first UK tour operator to offer holidays to all four of major Cuban tourist resorts.

Cook’s year-on-year bookings to Cuba are currently up 9% for summer 2017.
Cuba is expecting a big rise in tourism after the communist country thawed relations with the USA.

Customers will be able to choose from a range of nine all-inclusive hotels with Thomas Cook, Signature from Thomas Cook or Airtours.
The resort of Cayo Santa Maria hosts beach parties, festivals, water sports and has bars dotted along the 13km beachfront on the northern coast.
Catamaran tours around the Jardines del Rey islands are also available for holidaymakers to look for exotic fish, uninhabited mini islands and flamingos.
Sea temperatures are in the high 20s year round and air temperatures between 20C and 30C.

Thomas Cook’s leading prices for a four star resort start at £979 per person all-inclusive for seven nights flying from Manchester. Four star plus is available from £1,009 per person for seven nights."

Saudia has announced a twice weekly service from Manchester Airport to Riyadh.
Launching on June 23rd, the service complements the current offer of five flights a week to Jeddah.

Passengers can now fly direct to Saudi Arabia seven days a week.
The flight is scheduled to depart Mondays and Fridays.

The route will operate direct to the capital on Saudia’s state of the art Dreamliner with its 24 business class seats and 274 in economy.

It will offer passengers the chance to connect onto the airline’s extensive network of Middle Eastern and Asian services.

Saudia Manager for the UK, Fikry Altowayan, said: “We are excited with this newest addition to Saudia’s growing 83 destinations.

“We renew our commitment to our passengers by providing easy access, comfort, competitive pricing and convenient travel to the capital as well as more options in flying to further destination either via Jeddah or Riyadh.
“Manchester Airport is ideally situated to serve as Saudia’s gateway to cater to our guests from the North.”

Manchester Airport is the UK’s third largest airport with more than 25.8m annual passengers.
It has more than 210 destinations served by 70 airlines.
Stephen Turner, commercial director for Manchester Airport, said: “It’s great to see Saudia increasing their presence at Manchester Airport.

“The new flights to Riyadh will offer business and leisure passengers alike direct access to the Saudi capital as well as fantastic onward connections and I’m sure they’ll prove hugely popular.”

New hotel being built inside the Corn Exchange builg on Exchange Square. The rest of the 19th century building was renovated a couple of years back and the ground floor plus interior atrium are home to a bunch of restaurants...

Ordsall is beginning to be a hive of activity now, its close proximity to the city centre and Salford Quays is being realised by developers it seems. There are now nearly 2,000 apartments in the pipeline for the area.

Plans have been revealed for Angel Meadows, a major new residential proposal centred on Angel Meadows Park near Victoria station.

The proposals will be delivered on behalf of Far East Consortium and Manchester City Council and involve a bookend 41-storey tower to act as a landmark and entice development further into North Manchester.

Quality of photos isn't the best, currently trying to source higher quality shots.

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Originally Posted by mileymc1

Better image below. Planning to go in April. Due to approval, groundworks to commence Autumn 2017. To be build in one phase with homes to be ready as early as 2019. Full completion expected by 2020.

I'd image this will be more the luxury end than student accommodation scheme. Looking at there previous work they generally give good floor height and this has a large podium/retail space below with double height. My guess, I don't think this will be far off the 140m mark.

The 2017 edition of the Manchester Metrolink Rent Map has been released by DMT. It tracks how far rents have risen throughout Greater Manchester in areas near to Metrolink tram stations, most noticeably in the city centre and Salford.

Summary

Prices have gone up by an average of £108 since 2015 in the city centre, with the biggest increase in the area surrounding Victoria, from £677 to £812.

Market Street has the highest average rent across the entire region, at £895.

Rental prices in Langworthy, Salford, have risen by nearly £100, as that area begins to regenerate

Prices along the line eastwards to Ashton have decreased, however, as have prices along the Airport line in South Manchester.

Another of the 19th century textile mills that are common around Manchester has been given the go-ahead for renovation from the currently derelict state into 200 apartments. This one is not in the city centre but in Stockport borough, about 6 miles south of central Manchester.

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Mill to be turned into 200-luxury flats after £20m plan is approved

Dilapidated Meadow Mill will be part of a ‘gateway’ development in Stockport town centre

The reclamation of the formerly derelict Ashton Old Baths in East Manchester is now complete. The building is being used by start-up design, events, media and technology companies and is already 50% let.

A sad week for Manchester since the Ariana Grande concert attack on Monday. But the city is resilient and will not be beaten down by it.

Manchester attack memorial | St Ann's Square

The memorial for the 22 people killed in Monday's terrorist attack has been growing and growing. Yesterday at 11am the city held a minute's silence, as well as people across Britain. In Manchester, the silence was followed by applause and then the crowd broke out singing Don't Look Back in Anger by Oasis.